Technologies of Industrial-Age and
21st Century Production, Trade, and
Communication
http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/eme/17/FC117
Early Steam Power First invented by ancient Greeks
Steam-Powered Mill
– who applied water to power
wheel
 Cistern monks applied principle
to milling grain into flour.
 Mechanization applied to other
tasks as the technology spread
throughout Europe (spinning
silk, boring the barrels from
cannons and muskets, and
making gunpowder)
 Relevant video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=AZ-5GCkV_TU
Mechanization of Textile Industry
 Background: In 1700s, Britain
Spinning Jenny
had to compete with cheap
textiles from its various
colonies, especially India.
Merchants want to increase
rate of production
 Mechanized handloom (1733),
spinning Jenny (weave
multiple threads at one time),
coupled with steam power ->
doubled production time
Steam Engine
 Background: much of Britain
deforested from the waterpowered ripsaw. Looked to coal as
new energy source, but it was very
dirty.
 1783: smelting technique (rolling
and puddling) removed
impurities and made stronger
product (coke). Coke could
withstand higher steam pressure.
 1769: two chambered steam
engine developed to mine coal
 Once new steam engines
implemented in textile industry –
productivity increased by a factor
of 30 times
Transportation revolution
 1804: First steam-powered
locomotive
 1830’s railroads built across Europe
and US
 Impact:
 Power of state increase as they
financed the building of tracks
 Settlement of interiors
 Travel time reduced by 90
percent
 Link country-side to cities,
production areas to markets and
raw materials, links interiors to
coasts
 Prices of products decrease,
increased sales, increased
production, new jobs, more
disposable income – . Higher
standard of living -> reinforcing
cycle
Automobile: Technological System
 Early 1880s, cars, using diesel and gasoline internal combustion engines,
were developed and sold. 4000 cars were sold in 1900; 895,000 in 1915 and
3.7 million by 1927.
 The car was as much a technological innovation as a management
innovation
 Henry Ford perfected the assembly line
as he tried to standardize the production
of cars. Prior to his efforts it took 12 hours
to assemble a Model T car. He reduced
that time to 93 minutes and by 1927, he
further reduced the time to 24 seconds.
 Ford developed a technological system –
organizational structure to secure materials, assemble cars, market cars.
Cars itself is an technological system – thousands of parts that integrate
fuel, engine, transmission, power trains, brakes, suspension, lights, etc..
 There is a feedback loop shaping the technological system: manufacturers,
distributors, sales people, and users.
Automobile: Technological System
 Automobile industry foster other technological
innovations: balloon tires, headlights, and ancillary
technology such as traffic signals (which required
government control and involvement)
 Gas stations and repair shops became part of the
technological system
 1915, the car loan and the trade-in were developed as
marketing innovations
 Automobile manufacturing spurred industrialization
around the world , creating suburbia – and many other
social consequences. Can you name some?
Electricity
as
Technological
System
 Electrifications shows how technical progress can
overwhelms and establish new social and political orders
 1900s – invention of techniques to produce and distribute
electric currents: battery, dynamo, and copper wire
industry. At first electricity was private in the U.S.
 In WW1, US Congress needed to manufacture gunpowder,
so they authorized construction of a hydroelectric station
in Alabama. After war finished, US government focused on
completing the Wilson Dam – large dams affect public
interest. 1933, TVA established by Pres. Roosevelt.
 Remain a point of contention - should it be private or
public. This debate is still being argued today? What
do you think?
Airplanes
Wight Brothers Plane
 1903 Wright brothers took
flight. The technology built
upon existing inventions
gasoline, internal combustion
engine.
 By WWI, planes were used in
combat. 1920’s planes used to
carry mail and by 1930s
passenger airlines were in use.
 Tourism and recreation were
revolutionized. Can you
name another field?
 Governments got involved
again, constructing passenger
terminals, standardized mail
delivery, and government
started own airlines as well (in
addition to private ones)
Industrialization
of the Home
Vintage appliance
advertisement
 Dryers, refrigerators, freezers,
dishwashers, vacuum cleaners
(1901), washing machine (1910),
gas and electric ovens and
ranges, microwave ovens,
toasters (1909), coffee makers,
etc.
 Domestic revolution
contributed to the women’s
liberation movement.
 Advertisements and marketing
created consumer demand
 Homes are there own
technological system. Can
you name the parts?
Media and Communication Technologies
 Radios harnessed multiple technologies to receive
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and transmit signals, and amplify sound waves
1920s first commercial radio stations in US and
Europe. It became new form of entertainment (as
well as advertising/marketing). It also became a
political tool, used by governments to broadcast
propaganda and for espionage.
Home entertainment furthered with the
development of the phonograph and the rise of
technologies in the music recording industry
Late 1800s was also the time of the development of
the film industry. Technologies to revolutionize this
field – projection, voice and sound, colorization, etc.
The technology of radio was model for sending
pictures via electromagnetic waves – and the
development of the TV industry. 1930s commercial
television ready for broadcast, but grew
exponentially after World War II.
Global Media and the global village are now
synonymous!